A Lullaby
by Seer Vixion
Summary: Out of nine children she alone is not a twin. Living constantly on the edge of a dangerous forest her home is suddenly destroyed and she is left with only her brothers. How will life continue for this family of nine?


A Lullaby

Vixi: Hey all told ya I was getting in to Valdemar and here is my first Mercedes Lackey Story

Lullaby

Influenced by the song _Born to Fly _By Sara Evans

I've been telling my dreams to the scarecrow  
About the places that I'd like to see  
I say, "friend do you think I'll ever get there?"  
Oh, but he just stands there smilin' back at me  
So I confessed my sins to the preacher  
About the love I've been prayin' to find  
Is there a brown-eyed boy in my future, yeah  
And he says, "girl, you've got nothin' but time."

But how do you wait for heaven?  
And who has that much time?  
And how do you keep your feet on the ground  
When you know that you were born,  
You were born to fly

My daddy he is grounded like the oak tree  
My momma she is steady as the sun  
Oh, you know I love my folks  
But I keep starin' down the road  
Just lookin' for my one chance to run  
Hey, cause I will soar away like a blackbird  
I will blow in the wind like a seed  
I will plant my heart in the garden of my dreams  
And I will grow up where I wander wild and free

Oh, How do you wait for heaven?  
And who has that much time?  
And how do you keep your feet on the ground  
When you know, that you were born?  
You were born, yeah, you were born to fly

So how do you wait for heaven?  
And who has that much time?  
And how do you keep your feet on the ground  
When you know, that you were born  
You were born to fly, yeah

You were born to fly, fly, fly, fly, hey  
Oh, oh

"_Hush, little baby, don't say a word. Mommy's gonna buy you a mockingbird... And if that mockingbird won't sing, Mommy's gonna buy you a diamond ring..." A_ soft soprano's voice rang out like a whisper in the wind, a memory of a long forgotten past. The small bundle of cloth she sang to held a month old infant girl. The baby's blue eyes searched the voices face, not understanding a word but the emotions behind them. She cooed and squirmed a bit, and then her eyes started to slowly shut. When hooding half her eyes, they would open quickly only to close again and again until finally they closed all the way and a light even breathing could be heard from her.

Had the baby been able to, she would have seen four young pairs of eyes looking at her and wondering why their momma was not paying attention to them. The eyes belonged to two sets of twins. The oldest set took after their father, with their brown hair and green eyes. Both were boys and at the tender age of five. They understood what their momma was doing and quickly lost interest as soon as they saw the new baby. Both Boys looked exactly the same. Their names were Daniel Naoki(1), he was shy and very curious, wanting to know the why and hows of thing, while his brother just stood by and listened. Daniel's brother and twin was Robert Kenji(2). He was the more outgoing one and loved to be active. You couldn't tell the two apart unless you were very observant. Daniel had a slight discoloration on his left palm, as Robert did on his right.

The last two pairs of eyes belonged to the youngest set of twins. Both were boys, much to their mother's dismay,but was pleased to see they took after her a bit more. Their father was happy to have more boys around. The one with the blond hair and bark brown eyes and skin as pale as the moon, was Liam Kazuki(3). Liam like to follow his momma around the house helping in whatever way he could. The last boy was Kevin Minoru(4), with his black hair and blue eyes. Kevin followed his papa around the place helping only when asked. Both were four and determined to grow up quickly. Both sets of twins had a fierce twin bond, that couldn't be shaken. It amazed both their parents when they would be taking to one and the other would know exactly what had been said.

The only girl was the baby their momma held in her rocking arms. Her name was Kaya Hoshiko (5). She was born under the new moon in the middle of mid-winter. Unlike her brothers she had bright blue eyes and a fuzz that would likely to turn out brown.

The family lived near a small forest that their father hunted in during food shortages and their mother gathered herbs and mushrooms used for healing and for spices. their father gathered fallen trees that had yet to be a home for any woodland creatures for firewood and had gathered piled next to a wall near their fireplace for winter use. Their mother cleaned the house from floor to ceiling, when she wasn't gathering, and did the cooking... she made the best meat pies in the whole town. their mother's name was Sophie, and their father's name was Rafael.

_Unimportant but semi important facts:_

_1 -Noaki means Honest Tree in Japanese_

_2- Kenji means Strong second son_

_3 -Kazuki means shining one, pleasant peace, or first in a new generation_

_4 -Minoru means Seed _

_5- Hoshiko means Star child_

"Can't catch us Kaya! You can't catch us!" All four of her brothers yelled, as they ran across the yard into the barn, as they ran to hide. Kaya was now 10 and her oldest brothers were now 15 and 14. Her baby fuzz turned out to a nice light blond and she still had bright blue eyes. Kaya ran to the barn as fast as she could. Although the boys were almost ready to fly out of their home and start their own, they loved each other fiercely and didn't want to leave the rest behind. Kaya paused at the entrance of the barn and ran around to the back entrance, give her older brothers some more time to hide.

Their family had grown a bit more. she now had 4 younger brothers as well. Toby and James were the youngest at 7, and Thomas and Ryan were the second youngest at 8. Their mom had now sworn off having anymore children. Toby had black hair and forest green eyes, while his twin James had Black hair and bark brown eyes. Thomas had black hair and blue eyes and Ryan had Brown hair and green eyes.

Kaya counted to ten before she entered the barn. She had actually crept up behind James and tapped him on the shoulder. Liam jumped and yelled startled. "Kaya!" "you know the rules...now you gotta help me find the rest...including Ames Ry, Thom, and Toby...They went off in the other direction towards the forest. but lets get Robby, he has been getting a bit too high and mighty lately...wanna go fill the water bucket, while I find him?" she whispered in mischief. His face went from startlement to eagerness as he ran out of the building to go fill the pail.

She looked all over the barn and found where the others were hidden but did not call them out, she had to find Robert. At breakfast he had decided, all by himself without consulting the rest, what they were going to do all day today. Although they didn't object it had made her mad that he didn't consult with them before hand. She finally found him in the hayloft and ran out to find out what was taking James so long, only to find him halfway to the barn with a pail of ice cold water.

"He is in the loft. go in the back and tag your brother, he is in Night's old stable, have him help you get Robert. I will wait until I know you got Liam and I will enter the front to get Robby's attention." she said to him. Kevin nodded and headed off to tag his brother.

She waited a few minutes before she headed in through the front of the barn and walked over to Daniel's hiding spot and looked around a bit before tagging him by rustling up his hair. "Gotcha. not quiet. I want to hear your brother scream." she yelled before whispering the last part.

Daniel looked at his sister questionably before giving up, she was the only one of his siblings that he couldn't read. he didn't have to wait long before..." WHAAAAAAAAAAAT THE HELL!" said the voice that could only belong to his brother. He stifled a laugh.

Kaya was all out laughing when she heard Robert scream out in astonishment. Kaya and Daniel rushed up to the loft to see how bad Liam and Kevin had gotten Robert. Kaya had to admit, those two had a talent for being sneaky. They had gotten him soaked from head to toe. "You cannot say that you didn't deserve it Robby." she laughed.

"What in the hell made you guys do-do-do this!" he stuttered.

Kaya rolled her eyes. "Do you _really_ want to know?"

"Yes"

"Well just today? Today you decided what we were going to do today. you didn't even consult us before hand. And we, meaning me, Liam and Kevin thought it was time to get you down a peg. I didn't dare asking Daniel because of your blasted twin bond." she said in a annoyed voice.

"Okay, okay you did know me down quite a few pegs by doing that. So we got ages 10 and up?" he asked getting and affirmative nod. "Okay were did the munchkins run off to then?" he asked

"Towards the forest, I thought getting the olders might be a bit easier since you always stick together and not very far from each other." she said "and I didn't want to go into the forest by myself. Mom would have a fit if she found out."

"Well you can't blame her, you are her only daughter seeing on how she has now sworn off having any more children and Dad never gave her another girl. Now can you? But your right Mom would throw a fit and us olders would be in trouble for letting you. Now off we go." he said as he dashed outside to let the hot sun dry his clothes.

It wasn't long after they went looking did they find all four being escorted out of the forest by their dad and Kaya won their game of hide-and-seek. Going into the forest without dad's permission was a big no-no. And since they had been playing hide-and-seek that was even worse. If one went in to the forest at least two others besides dad had to go in with you. The reason being bandits or wild animals. You never knew when a bandit would show up in the forest or when a wild animal would go crazy.

Now they all were just resting underneath a weeping willow near the pond. Each was sprawled over someone else as a pillow. Kaya had gone inside earlier and gotten a story about Heralds, well to be more specific one about Herald-Mage Vanyel. They had all read the story at one point or another. She had also grabbed a tray of glasses filled with water and brought them out. She then sat down against the willow and set the tray in reach. It was then the boys had used one another as pillows.

It was a favourite pastime of theirs to listen to their sister read. She had a voice that was pleasing to listen to. It was a comfort that made all of them relaxed. She could tell as story as good as the best, making each one she read out to them alive. They were not sure if it was a gift or just a talent. But when she grew tired of reading and when her voice stated to strain, then they would go down the line of ages, skipping Kaya, until everyone had read and it came back to Kaya.

It was hours later and they were all asleep under the willow. They had somehow arranged themselves so Kaya was in the middle of the group and the boys were surrounding her. Their father came running out of the forest, yelling at the house. After a few moments a band of bandits came out following in pursuit. The elder brothers dragged the rest of their siblings into the barn and pulled up a secret floor and hushed them in. Kaya sat there comforting her younger brothers while trying to stay quiet. She started telling a story in an almost inaudible voice, making sure that she never got above a whisper and making sure not to speak when they heard shuffling feet above them in the barn.

After what seemed like days the noises went away and they were left in total darkness. Only Kaya was the brave enough to speak.

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Vixi: Well what did you think.. I had to stop there because I got writers block on what to write next


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